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"Vmm!"
Snow shook across the forest floor as if the whole world froze in place.
Crocodile's pupils shrank. A strange fear crawled up his spine. His underling beside him collapsed with a thud, face-first into the snow, half buried and motionless.
He looked around. The other pirates had all rolled their eyes back and dropped like flies.
"Dammit!"
"What's going on?!"
His voice trembled, sweat beading on his forehead.
His whole body felt weak. His mind couldn't muster even the slightest thought of resistance. It was suffocating. An invisible pressure pinned him in place, leaving his limbs stiff and his head spinning. He could barely stay upright.
He turned again. The young officer who'd been standing there had vanished.
A sudden gust rushed toward him, kicking up white snow. Crocodile lifted his head.
The young officer reappeared in a flash, cape snapping behind him. His gloved right hand was already clenched, dropping toward him in a diving punch.
"Useless!"
"I'm a Logia user!"
Crocodile sneered, confident. Whatever that overwhelming aura had been, it didn't matter. This navy brat was still too green.
But the next instant—
A steel-hard fist smashed into his cheek with brutal force. His vision exploded into a shower of gold stars. His whole body flipped and slammed into the snow like a meteor.
The opposite side of his face crushed into the ground. The earth cracked. A crater more than ten meters wide erupted beneath him.
And his consciousness shattered into darkness.
Kyle stood beside the crater, stunned for a moment. He stared down at Crocodile, whose head was buried in the snow and not moving at all.
"…He's not dead, right?!"
He honestly didn't know how strong Crocodile was at this point in time. He hadn't even used full power—just his natural physical strength, maybe thirty percent of it.
And with seastone gloves, even a Logia couldn't do a thing.
T-Bone and the others rushed over. Seeing a field of unconscious pirates and a Crocodile who looked half-dead, they exchanged looks but weren't particularly shocked.
"Sir, you hit him way too hard."
"Is his skull still intact?"
Shipwright Kaku muttered helplessly.
He'd clearly seen blood spreading in the snow around Crocodile's head.
Fortunately, after a quick inspection, Evans exhaled in relief. "He's alive."
"His head's ridiculously tough. Took Kyle's punch and survived… though his skull is cracked."
Cleanup after that was simple.
T-Bone contacted nearby marines to arrest the unconscious pirates. Rosinante hauled Crocodile over his shoulder and brought him back to the ship.
Following Kyle's orders, Mina did a quick bandaging job on Crocodile's head.
"Hope he pulls through."
"If he ends up a vegetable, guess I'll have to finish the job myself."
Kyle sighed.
He wasn't sure how he'd messed this up—partly underestimated his own strength with seastone gloves, partly overestimated Crocodile's durability.
Still, the fact that Crocodile had stayed standing even for a moment under his Conqueror's Haki meant the kid really did have something.
—
Five or six days passed before Crocodile's world of darkness finally cracked open.
As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw a bright blue sky and a seagull flapping overhead.
"Where… am I?"
"And who am I?"
Confusion swept through him. Crocodile pushed himself up with shaking arms.
"You awake?"
A tall figure stood ahead of him, back straight, justice cloak fluttering. The voice came from him.
For some reason, Crocodile felt a sudden instinctive fear at the sight of that back. His stomach tightened. A stabbing pain shot through his skull and he grunted.
"Who… are you?"
His mouth was dry, his voice hoarse.
"My name is Kyle."
Kyle turned around.
He studied Crocodile, confused. Something about him seemed off.
"Leo?"
Crocodile repeated the name. It rang a bell, but faintly.
After a moment of silence, he looked up blankly.
"Then… who am I?"
Kyle froze. The guy wasn't pretending—he could tell instantly.
To be absolutely sure, he glanced at Evans cleaning his rifle nearby. Evans nodded seriously.
"…I punched his brain into mush?"
Kyle was speechless.
Then, slowly, he started to smile.
Actually… this might be even better.
"Listen up, kid."
He looked at the dazed Crocodile.
"I rescued you from pirates. As for who you are now…"
"You're a trainee marine on my ship."
Crocodile blinked and glanced around.
The others watched him curiously.
"I… Crocodile…"
"…am a trainee marine?"
He muttered the words.
His memories were gone, but his mind worked fine. He understood what "trainee marine" meant.
He closed his eyes. A blurry figure flashed through his mind—a white cape fluttering, a black-gloved fist swinging down. Fear tightened every muscle.
When he opened his eyes again, he stared at Kyle's right glove. It was the exact same one from his fragmented memory.
"Maybe… he's telling the truth."
"The only thing I remember… is him. Must be because I really admired him."
He convinced himself.
And so, from that day on, the freshly-brain-damaged Crocodile began his new life as a cheerful trainee marine under Kyle.
Within five days, the young Crocodile had already grown close to Rosinante, T-Bone, Evans, and the others.
His sand-sand fruit also drew a ton of curiosity.
"Whoa, that's awesome!"
"You're immune to physical attacks? Incredible!"
"You're crazy strong, Crocodile! Even without your powers, you can trade blows with Evans!"
Rosinante yelled excitedly.
At twelve years old, Rosinante was basically the ship's mascot—loud and energetic.
T-Bone sparred with Smoker, bonding over swordsmanship until they hit it off like long-lost brothers.
Kyle crossed his arms and watched Crocodile blend into the crew, smiling faintly.
"An amnesiac sand crocodile…"
"Looks like he's finally learning how to enjoy life."
"Who knows, maybe one day he'll even thank me for that punch."
"..."
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